So with 37 seconds remaining in the Aztecs’ Friday night shootout against Nevada, and the score deadlocked 44-44, Long’s first instinct, on fourth-and-7 on San Diego State’s 45, was to go for it.

Really, coach?

“My competitive spirit was to go for it on fourth down,” Long said. “I asked coach (Bob) Toledo to call time out because my gut feeling for to go for it and I needed a little more time to think about it.

“So we thought about it and they convinced me that it was better to punt and go to overtime.”

That strategically ended up working out just fine for the Aztecs, who ultimately beat Nevada 51-44 in overtime.

Still, as Long showed in the first quarter, and almost tried to replicate in the fourth, he’s never going to back down on fourth down.

The Aztecs finished 1-of-2 on fourth down conversions, with the successful attempt coming in the first quarter, on fourth-and-22 from SDSU’s own 33.

“I felt like going for it because I thought it was a critical time in the game and that we as a team had to prove we were there to play,” Long said.

The Wolf Pack attempted six fourth down conversions and made three. They came into the game with a 60 percent fourth down conversion success rate, having converted 6 of 10.

SDSU is now 6 of 14 on the year on fourth down conversions.

Aztecs get running game in gear

SDSU had struggled to establish the run all season, and came into the game averaging 118 rushing yards a game.

That changed in a jiffy as Adam Muema and D.J. Pumphrey combined for 246 yards Friday night.

Muema’s junior year had been off to a slow start, largely because of a low ankle sprain sustained in the first game. But on Friday, he waged war on the Wolf Pack, executing spin moves, breaking tackles, and even taking off on a 50-yard carry.

He finished with a season-high 134 yards and two touchdowns, and finally looked like the Adam Muema who ran for 1,458 yards in 2012.

What’s more impressive is that this came on the end of a week in which Muema had to miss one practice to go home to Covina and deal with an undisclosed family emergency.

“I thought he looked pretty good the whole game,” Long said. “I thought he looked like his old self right from the beginning.”

Pumphrey put up 112 yards, including a remarkable 72-yard touchdown, to become the first SDSU freshman to rush for over 100 yards in consecutive games – he had 167 yards the week before against New Mexico State – since Ronnie Hillman did it in 2010.

“D.J. Pumphrey and Adam Muema complement each other,” Long said. “They are different types of runners, and it’s hard for a defense to get used to one guy that pounds you and runs through your arms, and knocks you over backwards, and then another guy that makes you miss and outruns you.”

Long said he thought the offensive line “blocked really, really well, too.”

SDSU had 255 rushing yards and 286 passing yards for a total of 541.

Lockett a late scratch

SDSU receiver Colin Lockett was a late scratch for the Nevada game.

“We didn’t know Colin Lockett wasn’t going to play until he went to the trainers on Thursday and said he was still having effects from last Saturday’s game,” Long said. “I think Colin was trying to tough it out himself so nobody would know and (hoping) that he would feel before the game.”

The side effect of Lockett trying to “tough it out” all week was that he took first team reps in practice as usual.

“So Eric Judge didn’t get near the reps that he would have gotten it we had known Colin wasn’t going to play,” Long said. “So he did a nice job, a really nice job.”

Judge caught the game-winning 13-yard touchdown, and finished with a team-high six receptions for 54 yards and two scores.